The Weakness of Beatrice the Level Cap Holy Swordswoman:Volume7 Chapter 3

Status: Incomplete

4/15 parts completed

   

Chapter 3: A Transparent New Continent, An Opaque Villain

Part 1

“Still, I think it must have been quite a shock for the lady as well. She just doesn’t let it show much.”

The Detached Magic Palace had a luxurious courtyard for being in Roppongi, Tokyo, and Misoka, the middle maid sister, was currently speaking there.

“Call it a new land or a new continent if you want, but it’s made a real mess of the power balance in that world, right? Earth problems can’t be solved using the island’s rules any longer. She has to start from scratch in coming up ways to prevent runaway technology like disseminated weapons that use program-controlled nanotech or 235 centrifuge parallel processors that can make the concentration of element #92 much more reasonable.”

The Detached Magical Palace and everything inside it generally belonged to the girl, so the maids were not free to do with it what they wanted. They had to look after things because the red dress girl would not say anything herself, but they were technically borrowing even their personal rooms. So Misoka was lying on a sheet placed directly on the grass instead of inside the gazebo.

Iroka, the eldest sister with glasses and a mole below the eye, sat elegantly on the same sheet. She was the capable sort of maid who kept her posture straight even when her master was not watching.

“The officials of the five great regional cities are requesting to inspect our Detached Magic Palace. Every city must want to create similar a place to strengthen their own forces in response to the changing environment in the other world.”

“Those would be actual government workers, right? They would just bring back Pieces and spread them around like the bureaucrats and politicians want them to. That only makes more enemies for the lady. It’d be chaos.”

“If anything, the miss is the odd one out for viewing the big picture and striking at any openings to prevent dangerous technological development.”

“Isn’t this all about to fall apart? If the five great regional cities start competing to be the next capital city, they’ll start a proxy war in the other world.”

“More than that, we just don’t have the strength to build four or five facilities on the level of the Detached Magic Palace. They keep kicking the can down the road by issuing government bonds, but that isn’t going to work much longer. It hurts that they couldn’t crack down on virtual currencies and online advertising as simple revenue sources. The Pieces have caused the value of the country to plummet, so the related countries’ investment banks only keep Japanese bonds as the price of doing business with us and the actual investors won’t touch the stuff.”

“What if they forcibly take the budget they need by treating it like an investment that’s guaranteed to pay off? All the public funding for Ground’s Nir countermeasures decided on after the Tselika Panic has gone right down the drain, so what if that happens four or five times at once? Plus, if those facilities don’t have the lady in them, they won’t see any success exploring the Labyrinth. When those regional cities can’t get their money back, the economic shock will bring down the entire national economy.”

“What is your point?”

“Why not get out while the getting is good? Remember our idea of making the Detached Magic Palace the world’s smallest country?”

Misoka pointed over while lying on the sheet and a tremor erupted from that point. The warm sun must have reached Haruka, the youngest sister, because she opened her mouth wide while lying on her back.

“Zgh, zghhhhhhhhh! Ugh, mumble, mumble…”

“That’s just normal snoring for her, isn’t it? Not sleep whatever-it’s-called?”

“You can tell just by looking at her she’s perfectly healthy. I’m jealous. And Haruka’s idea is not just a pipedream. I have created digital copies of all the necessary paperwork and submitted it to the necessary agencies and offices over fiber optic lines.”

“And yet I haven’t heard a peep about it. The Diet isn’t going to delay giving approval, eventually say it never went up for discussion due to a communication error, and then hope it just goes away, are they?”

“You are more of a worrier than I thought.”

“Only when it has to do with the lady.”

“That honesty and forthrightness is a skill I lack. Again, I am jealous. As a sign of respect, I will give you a serious answer.” Iroka quietly sighed while rubbing the head of the youngest sister who was making a noise like a powerful vacuum cleaner nozzle. “Simply put, it is being blocked. And quite powerfully at that.”

“We’re talking about 15% of the people’s tax money breaking away. Of course they want to stop it.”

“Yes. I knew it would not be easy and prepared some countermeasures in advance, but all of those were crushed as well. But instead of being done by force, it felt more like it was done by someone who exists outside the rules.”

“Like those Over the Wall people?”

“That I cannot say.”

Those at the peaks of Earth’s power structures worked behind the scenes while crossing every form of boundary: nation, race, language, religion, corporation, etc. But that was why they could seem involved in any misfortune or tragedy once you began to suspect them. Considering an enemy on that level without solid evidence would only trap you in your own invented delusions.

Bespectacled Iroka deftly sidestepped that uncertain area as she continued.

“At any rate, we have no future if we cannot pry open these floodgates. We will only continue to stagnate. There are still a set number of forces that wish to crush the Detached Magic Palace, so if we must fight and compete over our rights and budget, then those regional cities, the defense contractors, and even religious organizations will swoop in to steal everything from us”

“This sounds bad…”

“It is,” confirmed the oldest sister.

But she was a capable maid and that meant doing more than just obediently following her instructions.

“Now, I have an idea to share with you while Haruka sleeps. Would you be interested in causing some trouble on the outside with me?”

Part 2

“O-ohh… It’s shaking, it’s shaking. It’s moving, it’s moving.”

Beatrice spoke from atop the Next Voyager after leaving the island of Ground’s Nir. She held her arms out horizontally to keep her balance next to the pool on the large deck. The ghost ship’s appearance was quite worrying, but it helped a lot that they had Rusalka and Wildefrau’s mastery of the Wind and Ice Elements. They had little difficulty catching the wind on the multiple sails, similar to a clipper. They could control the wind’s direction, so they did not need to go through the rigging work that would take dozens of crewmembers.

The girl was more excited than necessary with her tattered gray cloak fluttering behind her, but that may have been because the unsteady footing brought back the memories of when she was on death’s door after her Shining Weapon was destroyed by the red electricity.

Meanwhile, on the poolside…

“This cow freaked us all out with her made up threat! The ship’s just fine and we wasted our time running around!! This moron was spreading fake news just for fun, but then she goes pale when it causes a panic!!”

“A-all I did was consider the dangers we might face and lay them out on the table. If you’re going to get after me for that, then I don’t think we’re anywhere near as safe as you think we are.”

“Shut up and stick your butt out this way! You played us for fools, so I’m going to spank the ass crammed into those tight shorts!!”

“See, we’re not safe at all!!”

Incidentally, the ship was fine because all of the holes had been plugged up with the all-purpose Diamond Salt that was used for bridges, homes, and weapons in the southern forest. The dogs and cats dressed as butlers and maids must have secretly been working to maintain it.

They were journeying to a new land, but it was still close enough to be visible from Ground’s Nir’s coast. Which was a good thing since Beatrice’s Party had to turn back and return to the island’s Gates before their time limit of a few days expired.

“S-squeal.”

Boo Boo nervously held onto the side deck railing.

He had taken a shortcut to the depths of the Labyrinth, entered the Underworld, climbed to the sun island, and more, but was he afraid of the ocean? Even though they had crossed a much-more-dangerous lava lake in Hermelina’s small metal boat?

He looked back the way they had come while holding onto the railing and keeping his feet planted on the deck.

“The island of Ground’s Nir looks so small already… Boo, can we really get back?”

“Don’t worry, Boo Boo. We haven’t been swept out to sea or anything.”

Beatrice placed a gently clenched fist over her mouth and giggled as she answered. Boo Boo apparently thought of this like being swept away inside a giant float. He had climbed to the heavens and arrived on the sun island before, but he apparently saw horizontal distances differently from vertical ones.

To reiterate, this voyage was only to another shore within viewing distance. Reefs were still a danger, but for the most part, they did not need to stare at a sea chart or compass for this.

Rusalka had climbed to the top of the mast in her leotard and armor and she formed a megaphone with her hands to shout down at the others.

“We’re almost there! Those of you with lots of firepower should be ready to fight back if necessary!!”

“Will do.”

“And ice girl! Your anchor can stop a ship moving this quickly, can’t it!? I’ll be sending in a headwind from the other side, but still!!”

Her voice sounded perfectly clear despite the distance, so she was probably using some kind of Wind Magic. …That meant the megaphone hands were unnecessary, but Huldra’s displays of femininity(?) may have been infectious.

“We’re finally there. Squeal, is the ancient Hero really here?”

“Don’t worry so much, Boo Boo. We might not have to fight right away.”

“I don’t know what kind of person they are, but I hope we can be friends. Boo, fighting is bad!”

That seemed unlikely, but Beatrice smiled and said nothing. Boo Boo was from Ground’s Nir, so he would not know what horrors the witch hunt referred to. And she wanted to keep it that way.

Everyone seemed to be needlessly worried today. While they went through the delicate procedure to approach the coast, they were not welcomed with a sudden cannon blast like Rusalka had feared.

“The cow’s cowardice has infected the rest of us.”

“Can’t someone do something about this bully of a police officer!? She’s disturbing the peace here and making false accusations like she’s part of the secret police or something!”

Wildefrau, who hid the important bits with a cross sword and the rest with belts, created a weight out of ice and Rusalka, who wore a skintight leotard with thick armor and boots added on, sent a wind back against them to slowly but surely decelerate the Next Voyager as it arrived on the new continent’s coast.

Beatrice looked back at the cross sword nudist who was lying on one of the beach chairs.

“Wildefrau, will that ice anchor last? If possible, I also want you to make a vine or rope out of ice and tie the ship to land. Having it drift away would be about the worst thing that could happen.”

“That’s fine, but don’t you want multiple sources for your safety net? If something happens to me, the ship would drift away and you would all be dead.”

That problem was solved by Huldra sprinkling the contents of the jewel she wore (which was actually a small bottle of colorful potion). Something plasticky swelled out, surrounded the stern of the ship, and acted as a giant weight.

Huldra shined in the light of a pink magic circle that opened in the space in front of her wrists.

“Phew. I finally got to do something Alchemist-y.”

“That’s not metal you’re using, though.”

Hermelina, who was fighting her away along the path of moe with a flat boob window, made that exasperated comment while transforming her Shining Weapon into a metal ladder. They would use that to disembark, but the ones confident in their physical enhancements could just jump down from the side deck.

Gruagach, whose long blonde braid was wrapped in a circle behind her, looked down at the deck floor.

“We can have Kallikantzaros look after the ship, so I seriously doubt anyone will be able to mess with it. We should be going.”

“Have her? You really are the Summoner type, aren’t you? You talk big when it comes to monsters and creatures.”

By the time Hermelina had finished speaking, Boo Boo and Beatrice had already jumped from the side deck to the ground nine meters below. Boo Boo looked around after easily landing.

It was white.

No, the transparent ground may have been reflecting the sunlight. The ground felt like thick glass below his feet and there was no sign of any animals or even plants.

“Boo… This is kind of scary. I can’t find any animal tracks. If I was left here, I would be so hungry.”

“We did load the ship up with food and water, but ugh. This really is an unimaginable scene.”

The pig and cow that loved to eat were equally dejected by the sight. The land was made of the same glass substance as the artificial atmospheric barrier, so it was not exactly a good environment for the living creatures that encyclopedia lover would rejoice to find.

Hermelina created a thin chain with her Shining Weapon and called up a rectangular frame made of a bubble film.

“Okay, everyone, let’s sync our clocks. To give ourselves some extra time to get safely back to the island, let’s only explore for two days this first time. We don’t want to get lost here, so always move around in groups of two or more. Be mindful of the weather too. The previous rules might not apply here, so don’t forget the basics.”

That said, walking randomly around this continent had never been an option.

“Boo…”

Boo Boo held a hand over his eyes to shield against the sun and tried to see to the other side of the land.

“How far does it go? It doesn’t seem to end.”

Yes, it was a continent after all. This was very different from an island that only took three days to walk the perimeter. They did not know its actual area, so if they set off blindly, they might find themselves unable to return before the limit arrived. Even following the same path back could take longer due to exhaustion, the weight of what you were carrying, inclement weather, and more.

Having to find the Hero in this huge space would not be easy. They called it a new continent and new land, but its actual area was still unknown. Plus, it was possible the Hero was constantly moving around herself.

No one else was in his new area.

Was there anywhere left like that on Earth? They faced this virgin land which felt oddly lonely with no one there.

“Okay.”

Hermelina used her soft arms to hoist a handmade-looking flag. The flag was as tall as she was and she used her Screenshot function to take various photos of it from multiple angles. Shining Weapons had a huge amount of space, so she did not need to worry about filling it up.

“We’ll call this our landing point.”

Since the people in the inn town were still shouting and fighting over getting a boat, this was their chance. But Beatrice frowned.

“Hermelina, do the south pole expedition rules really apply in this world? A ton of humans will be here in all sorts of boats, right?”

“Did you not see the UN’s decision, Beatrice?”

“What kind of map-obsessed life do you have to live to find yourself on that site?”

“They said any surveying data of the new continent you bring back will be treated like a Piece. So whoever registers it first wins. Screenshots packed full of coordinate data are the greatest form of intellectual property right now. …Damn, if not for my job, I’d make a post on Nanskagram about making such a historic landing. Anyway, we need to explore. This won’t be done overnight. We’re gonna have to do this, head back, and come back here again. It’s going to be a long process.”

“Chief, what about setting up a new Gate?”

“Try requesting that from the higher ups and every last government official will start wanting one of their own and nothing will ever get done. I’ve arranged to have a full set of Cyrillic equipment sent to us via Okhotsk, so just wait a bit on that.”

“Ehh!? Are you sure that’s a good idea!?”

“The idea of Russian products being cheap is nothing but propaganda the West shoves into their movies. And by propaganda, I mean bullying done while pouting their lips. Just compare their assault rifles and you’ll see who really has the better tech. Same with tanks and fighters. The West is secretly terrified. All those flashy weapons shows are just a way of hiding it.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m talking about morals and ethics since that sounds an awful lot like smuggling!”

“It’s too late to act like you’re the only virtuous one around here. Remember that caviar you were so delighted to eat the other day? Did you never stop think where I got that from? I served you a ridiculous feast of a caviar futomaki, so that stuff is part of your flesh and blood by now. You might as well give up.”

“You made me an unwitting accomplice!? A-are you the kind of courier that sticks a small plastic bag in a stranger’s pocket at the airport!?”

A large number of boats would soon be arriving at this new land.

…Which meant there would be competition over the landing points. It might seem like such a vast continent would have plenty of coast, but beaches could not be used since ships required a certain level of height at the coast, cliffs required the crew to climb up them, reefs hidden below the water were always a danger, and using the shortest route from island to continent would mean reduced transportation costs, etc., etc. In the end, there would be a limited number of prime locations. That was why Beatrice’s Party had been in such a hurry to get their ship out here. Once the place was as crowded as the beach during the summer, there would nowhere left to land. And since they had to go to and from the continent every few days, having to pay gears to someone else to use their landing spot each time would add up quickly. So they needed to secure the prime spot before anyone else arrived, spread their wings, and construct a solid base of activity.

Most of the others were unaware of the Hero’s presence. Given what she had done in the past, her technology was probably equal to or greater than the Sage’s. If she was still alive like Abyss claimed and she took hostile action against other lifeforms, the inn town humans who arrived as if sightseeing might end up slaughtered every time they Encountered her.

Even in this Party, Wildefrau, Huldra, Gruagach, and Rusalka seemed less worried just because they had not gone to the sun island.

Only Boo Boo, Beatrice, and the others who had gone to the sun island and seen the trace residual thoughts of the Hero could accurately recognize the threat.

“Beatrice, Philinnion, you two take additional screenshots to prove we were here first. We can register them like Pieces if we bring them back with us, so it can’t hurt,” explained Hermelina. “Huldra and Gruagach are too close to the organization for that. Of course, everything about this will change if we can build a Gate on this continent.”

Boo Boo brought a hand to his mouth.

“Squeal. But can we really find the Hero in such a big place? It feels like a never-ending game of hide-and-seek to me.”

“Well, it certainly won’t work if we try doing it all by foot. We can’t just place Gates all over the place, so for now the name of the game is claiming some territory for ourselves.”

“?”

“Okay, you take care of the first step, Gruagach. Work hard.”

The slit-robed young woman waved lazily and the mourning clothes girl stepped forward. She held a Shining Weapon made by attaching close-range blades on either end of a stabilizer-equipped bow. Boo Boo tilted his head as a few magic circles appeared along the path out from Gruagach’s right eye and then she loosed an arrow into the birdless sky.

Although the arrow itself might as well have been a bird.

It started in the expected parabolic arc, but then it did not fall back down.

White wings burst out from the center of the shaft to beat at the air and it circled above their heads like a bird of prey searching for that prey.

After loosing a few more arrows, Gruagach explained without looking back.

“Filling in the map would take a century of work if we tried to do it on foot, so I am using their eyes and ears to simplify the process as much as possible.”

“Squeal?”

“Hee hee. The key to modern military success is time saving and efficiency.”

She smiled elegantly while bespectacled Philinnion and twintailed Huldra crouched down at her feet and started working on something. The butt of the White Witch’s shorts strained and she gave a troubled look while a yellow magic circle shined from her first-aid kit and she mixed the bottom of a test tube full of a potion.

“Hm. Still green. It isn’t turning yellow or blue.”

“That means it’s neutral,” said Huldra. “We still have to test for a few major categories of toxins, but if the ground really is just glass, we might be in luck. If it hasn’t been altered with some weird chemical substance like fluorescent lights or lead glass, we can use this. If there’s no drainage, the rainwater has nowhere to escape. It looks empty now, but there will be large water jugs all over the place before long.”

Hermelina, the woman with slits all over her robe, could not let that one slide.

“Hold on, Huldra! Are you telling us to crawl on the ground and drink from random puddles!?”

“Why are you savages like this? Even the water from your tap was originally rainwater, you know?”

“Ugh, th-that may be true, but the mineral water in bottles and water coolers comes from the Alps or wherever, so it’s nice and clean!”

“You think it’s cleansed by traveling through the wonders of nature such as rotting leaves, animal droppings, and worm carcasses? It’s on a bigger scale, but it’s the same basic idea as a homemade filter made by filling a metal drum with sand, pebbles, and activated charcoal.”

Hermelina held her mouth and gagged, although it was unclear if that counted as being pure or filthy. This might sound like a silly conversation, but these food zen dialogues could send some more impressionable people down the path of never touching artificial ingredients or of eating exclusively organic vegetables.

Since the drones were handling the basic search, Hermelina used her spare time to cut away squares of the thick transparent ground and stacked them up in a dome. Anyone with Earth knowledge might have compared it to an Inuit structure.

Wildefrau frowned.

“What are you doing? If we need shelter, can’t we return to the ship?”

“This is insurance for when we register the Pieces on Earth. A single flag might not be accepted as a base, so it needs to look the part even if it’s meaningless. I want to create a few of these so we can show off a proper ‘base’. If possible, I’d like to build a few lighthouse-like things around the base.”

“Lighthouses?”

“If that’s too much work, some colorful smoke signals would work. It just has to act as a landmark. Once it becomes a social gear that people rely on, they won’t be able to eliminate it so easily.”

“Ha ha ha. You’re turning into one of those arms dealers who controls a local supermarket or hospital, chief. You could win an election in Eastern Europe or Central or South America.”

“Oh, are you enjoying this, Huldra? Seeing that grin on your face makes me feel so happy and peaceful. I’ll have to think back on this when your next pay assessment comes up, so I hope you’re ready.”

“Gyahh!?”

The pink-twintailed girl screamed like an office worker in trouble, but did that mean they were not actually government workers with a stable salary? Beatrice’s external perspective made it hard to tell how much their cover story as a PI office affected their finances. Not that she knew what things were like for a normal private investigator either.

The Holy Swordswoman carrying that log or steel beam of a Shining Weapon sighed half in resignation and half in exasperation as her tattered gray cloak fluttered and she looked up at the blue sky.

“So we use drones for recon in this world too now, huh?”

“Unlike the Labyrinth, this is a wide open space, so this is sure to become mainstream. I mean, the field is just too large to do it with normal manpower.”

“So everyone will be trying to claim as much territory as they can, will they?”

“It doesn’t have to be from the sky. You could set up a tripod somewhere with a good view and gather audio or video in all 360 degrees or you could attach a giant suction cup to the hard ground and check for body heat or the slight vibrations of footsteps. Each action will fill in more of this wide area and it will all join together to create a map of this continent. It’s like completing a jigsaw puzzle one piece at a time.”

“I get the feeling the drones are going to start fighting each other before long.”

“That’s called a smart war, Beatrice. We’re going to be busy. We’re looking at an age where data goes up for auction just like wine and paintings.”

This was difficult to understand for someone born in Ground’s Nir, so the nearly-4m pig-faced giant tilted his head.

“What should I do?”

“We’re claiming territory, remember? Build igloos like this in the places Gruagach has already checked. We’ll connect the dots to create a single route for ourselves. If we bring the survey data back to Earth and register it as Pieces, that road will belong to us.”

…Of course, if they forced people to pay too exorbitant a toll, the other humans would just develop the rest of the land and make their own roads instead.

At times like this, it meant a lot to have someone as powerful as Boo Boo. And he already had enough skill to fold large leaves into something like a tent.

“Squea, squea, squea. Squeal, squeal.”

Every three or four hundred meters, they built a glass igloo. Beatrice used lines of heat to cut chunks out of the thick glass ground and Boo Boo stacked them up with his hands. Even with their Magical reinforcements, the work was as hard as packing up to move for the humans, but since the nearly-4m giant could lift the fridge-sized masses with a single hand, it was as simple as stacking building blocks for him. As a finishing touch, he would place a flag at the top of the dome.

“Squeal, now this is mine!”

He likely did not understand the situation back on Earth, but he seemed to be enjoying himself.

When the sun began to set and the scenery started growing orange, Gruagach raised her head with her eyes shut. She had received some information from the winged arrows circling overhead.

“It seems some of the others have landed a ship on the continent’s coast. They are 2500 meters north of our landing point and there appear to be more than 80 of them. The details are still unknown, but that size suggests a Guild.”

“It’s too late for them now. This region is already covered with our flags.”

Beatrice’s Party had shown some kindness by not spreading their territory along the coast.

“Boo Boo, that’s enough for today. Let’s return to the ship.”

“But, Beatrice, I can keep going.”

“The environment changes at night. If you miss a giant fissure in the ground, you could end up falling into the pit.”

Gruagach’s winged arrows were convenient, but they only provided general information. This illusion was most well-known from the largest salt lake on Earth, but when the ground was entirely white, it was extremely difficult to judge distances and notice details. Trusting too much in that bird’s-eye-view information would be dangerous.

They had used a glowing lichen to fill the glass igloos with light without using fire. If they followed those points, they would not get lost on the way back even if it got dark. With Beatrice’s flames illuminating the way ahead, they would be even safer.

However…

“Urgh…”

Boo Boo’s breath grew white. Beatrice used Magic fire to light the hair rising from her head like an antenna and she held the tattered cloak together to cover her body.

“So we’re faced with the unexpected already… Oh, I get it. This glass ground can’t store heat, so it’s a lot like the desert at night.”

“What does that mean?”

“There’s a drastic temperature difference between day and night. We were right to head back to the ship early, Boo Boo. Let’s eat something hot once we arrive.”

“Squeal, it feels weird to eat when I haven’t been hunting. I just hope nothing bad happens to me for taking it easy.”

Someone entirely self-sufficient viewed things differently.

By the time they arrived back at the Next Voyager on the coast, the sun had entirely set. It was truly frigid. The only one handling it without any difficulty was Ice Waterfall Princess Wildefrau who had the most skin showing. That exhibitionist wearing only a cross sword and belts was an extreme exception since she could use her 100% Water Resistance to soak up to the shoulders in a bath of liquid nitrogen.

And once darkness enveloped their surroundings and the moon came out, the blonde girl in a red negligee emerged from her coffin at the bottom of the ship.

“Yawn… More puny humans are arriving. Now, tell me how much progress you made. I imagine it was all wasted effort, so you can give it some slight meaning by telling me a story to pass the time.”

“Cow, are there any herbs in this world that work like garlic? I don’t care if it’s a soup, a meat dish, or garlic rice – shove as much of it as you can in tonight’s dinner!”

“I am not going along with a plan so self-destructive for a girl.”

The humans were normally focused on exploring the Labyrinth, so they would learn some simple outdoor cooking skills whether they wanted to or not. Those like Beatrice who could not cook at all and relied on simple solid foods were rare. She was often accused of lacking femininity there.

But tonight’s dinner was being cooked by…

“Ugh… This was supposed to a dream come true where anyone but Boo Boo cooking the food meant I got to eat a girl’s cooking, so why do I have to do it, chief!?”

“Because you’re the best cook among us, Huldra.”

This overturned the common association of cooking with femininity, but at the very least, they were not going to end up with a scorched mystery dish or a boiling purple sludge.

Boo Boo let out a white breath as he looked up at the stars filling the night sky.

“Boo. I hope the other humans aren’t having too much trouble.”

“Don’t worry, Boo Boo. These are the people who are always heading down into the Labyrinth and deciding whether they should continue on or head back. I doubt they’ll choose wrong when it comes to that.”

And they would have needed a certain amount of power to end up on top and win a boat at the inn town. At the very least, it was unlikely a Party of only rookies would make it to the new continent.

“Squeal. But can we really get to sleep when it’s so cold?”

“Hm? Won’t we be fine inside the Next Voyager?”

“We’re talking about a ghost ship full of drafts, plus it’s as wide open and deserted as a school at night. Hm, maybe it would be best to gather in a single room to keep our heat together.”

The suspenders cow held her shoulders, squishing her boobs in the process, but then someone’s eyes lit up as they licked their lips.

“This is my chance! Yes, gather around everyone and don’t be shy! We need to stay as close together as possible to preserve our warmth!!”

“Huldra, you’re sleeping outside. Outside the ship. Why? Because you’re gross.”

“Don’t be surprised when you wake up to find a pillar of ice outside!! Wahhhhh!!”

Part 3

Once outside, things were not that bad.

The girl that the Detached Magic Palace had been built for was one thing, but the maid sisters were not restricted from coming and going. They frequently visited Tokyo for their daily shopping, so they were not particularly excited about being there this night.

Second Sister Misoka placed her hands behind her head as she walked below the streetlights.

“Are you sure about this? Isn’t this like treason against the state or something?”

“I have already submitted the necessary paperwork, so this is their fault for refusing to accept it without even providing a reason. Besides, our loyalties lie with the world’s smallest independent nation we are about to create, so Kasumigaseki and Ichigaya have no right to complain at this point.”

“That means Tokyo will be a foreign country, won’t it? Wow, I’ll need a passport to visit the convenience stores around here!”

Due to the city lights, the moon was the only visible light in the night sky.

Whether she was serious or not, Misoka chuckled before asking a question.

“So where are we headed?”

“Akasaka. We have business at the Ushigashira Shrine.”

The centers of Roppongi and Akasaka were less than two kilometers apart, but they still retrieved their mid-sized motorcycle from a monthly-payment parking lot they used under a fake name. Needless to say, this was insurance in case they ran into trouble and had to shake pursuit.

Misoka tossed a spare helmet to her older sister and continued the conversation.

“Well, now that we’re this far away, Haruka can’t chase after us even if she does wake up.”

“I hate how these helmets flatten my hair…”

With that, they drove straight to the Ushigashira Shrine which illuminated its building and trees with indirect lighting. They hid the motorcycle not too close and not too far before making a full circle around the shrine grounds on foot.

“I was expecting more security than this.”

“Nothing is more worthless than digital security that only runs at set times. Human security scares me the most since you cannot trick human eyes and they can make truly unpredictable random patrols.”

Misoka and Iroka moved swiftly as they spoke. The grounds were surrounded by a tall wall, but climbing over that was a simple task with two of them there. They quickly crossed that barrier and stepped onto the gravel garden. They avoided the komainu and sacred trees lit up from below and crouched low to run from shadow to shadow.

“We don’t get to use these techniques often. That training was a waste of time.”

“That just goes to show how much the miss is protecting us on a daily basis. We must never forget to be thankful.”

In truth, the two of them were not after anything in the Ushigashira Shrine. They were not interested in its thick safe or secret underground storeroom.

They just needed to enter the building.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Over the Wall. Well, one member of that group. I apologize for showing up without an appointment, but our master is in a bit of a bind. I hope that you can forgive us.”

Iroka got down on one knee in the unlit room and spoke in a flat voice that sounded like she was reading off a magic spell.

And in response.

The room’s paper lanterns came to life without warning. The soft flickering light was clearly fire and not light bulbs. Was that caused by static electricity, microwaves, or something else? The trick was unclear. It was possible the two intruders could be roasted in an instant using the exact same technique.

The oppressive silence made them hesitant to even breathe.

When Misoka audibly gulped, a change came over the surrounding atmosphere.

“Do not use that name. You might scare everyone off for no good reason.”

It was a wrinkly old woman’s voice.

And it suddenly rang down from the ceiling.

They had successfully made contact.

Contact with one of the beings who manipulated the course of the world from the shadows after crossing all boundaries: nation, race, religion, language, ideology, corporation, academic field, social class, etc. This was far more meaningful than some obvious safe.

Glasses Iroka said more with her head still bowed.

“But lowly and thoughtless people such as us do not even know your name.”

“Call me whatever you want. They only started worshiping me at this shrine in the modern era anyway. And our tomboy has no problem treating me like her own grandmother.”

“But…”

“Well, I guess I can’t expect you to let your guard down as much as that shrine maiden princess. I mean, she is the Connective Maiden – the one who connects us without fear.” The voice from the ceiling sounded somehow exasperated. “Anyway, maid, make sure your respect is directed to the proper person. There need only be one person to whom you bow your head. I am not so petty that I would try to take what is in your hearts as well.”

“…I am forever in your debt.”

“Hah hah. Not even we talk in that stuffy way anymore. Now, girl, what brings you here today?”

“Wouldn’t someone of your position already know exactly what we are doing?”

“I want to hear it from you.”

“Is that so?” said Iroka.

She was a data expert, but that was why she realized instantly that this was not someone that could be bargained with. The only option was to display every card she had in her deck and apply as much pressure as possible.

“In order to protect our beloved master, we are attempting to remake the Detached Magic Palace into the world’s smallest nation. We have already submitted all the digital paperwork, but it is being stopped at some point. …We would like to know who exactly is doing this. Whether we are to convince them to take our side or threaten them into stopping, we must know who our target is.”

“I see.”

Was the person they spoke with really in the attic or not? That remained unclear, but the sharp presence they felt was like having a knife pressed against their throats.

After a pause, the wrinkly voice spoke again.

“That is a difficult question to answer.”

“I am aware of that, but this is for our master and I must insist.”

“You fool. Do not underestimate me. I am not talking about the power balance.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“It is simply a difficult thing to explain. Your enemy definitely exists, but it would be hard to say they have a physical existence. Even though they definitely are there.”

“Hey, granny, if you’re dodging the question to stall for time, just come on out and say it. This isn’t our last stop tonight.”

Iroka kept her head bowed as she glared over at her rude sister, but the voice from the ceiling actually sounded delighted.

“Excellent. I do enjoy seeing a girl who is frank and to the point. In fact, maid, you should not give your blood relatives a look like that.”

“My apologies. I am unworthy of your kindness.”

“Now, you wanted to know your enemy’s identity, correct? Very well. I imagine the answer will only confuse you, but that is your right. It is, however, up to you whether or not you will accept the answer. The answer is a subway station.”

“Huh? A station???”

“Yes, the subway station closest to the National Diet Building. Now do you get what I mean?”

“…The Japanese government’s largest underground nuclear shelter?”

“It dates back to before the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was said to be a secret facility meant to contain the Diet members and top government officials in an emergency, but that is not enough to explain it. That facility is meant to keep the Japanese government running even if the capital is hit by a nuclear attack. That means it contains everything necessary to run the country. In that sense, you can think of the personnel as no more than gears used to keep the system running smoothly. The most important part is actually the machinery. The core of that facility is the supercomputer that forms the foundation of the executive network needed for this highly digitized society.”

There was a rumor about this.

It said that a certain being controlled everything in the country. And it said that being was not the Diet or the so-called Restaurants, but in fact an enormous mass of semiconductors.

“So our enemy…”

In other words.

In other words.

“…is a simulator?”

Part 4

“Why do I hate humans? That’s simple. Because they’re so foolish I would rather not believe I am one of them.”

That comment was made in the Iberian Orc village partway up the mountain.

On that gentle night, the pig-faced giants were seated around a fire. The red-armored and white-miniskirted Sage was smiling as she looked after the kids running around them, but the tone of her voice was the polar opposite.

Perhaps to work off some energy before going to bed, the little pig doll creatures asked her to play with them, but they did not seem to understand what she was saying. They may have thought it was part of some game of make believe.

“It was such a boring form of extinction.”

The elder alone was different.

That 5m giant gave the Sage a complicated look.

“It was no more than environmental changes and natural disasters brought on by global warming. No country or corporation could be accurately pinpointed as the cause. Since humans play no role in causing natural disasters, we just accept them as inevitable. If only a clear causal relationship could be established, there would have been anger. Our era had grown too developed.”

Some tearful kids ran over while screaming. Some of the naughtier pig dolls must have tried to sneak out of the village at night and seen something scary. There was a sound of rattling bones. Was that a jewel in a cowboy hat glinting in the moonlight from the forest?

The Sage always viewed the simple life on this island as such a bright thing. Almost like she was viewing a treasure that was forever beyond reach.

“However, there was a disaster environment simulator.”

She spoke the decisive words.

Most likely, it had not originally been built to destroy anything.

“That changed everything. That demon could calculate back through the butterfly effect, so it could find a cause for any and all catastrophes. It could find a target for the people’s hatred. …From there, it came down to arguing over blame and fighting silly wars. When you get down to it, no one ever knew if the simulator’s answers were even accurate and it was possible some engineer included some extraneous parameter in the equations. But when an AI displays an answer on the screen, everyone assumes it’s correct even if they have no idea how it was reached. How is that any different from a religion that kneels before a demon?”

After that, there had been no escaping disaster.

A machine had destroyed the human race, but it had not required an army of murder weapons covered in composite armor. It had only required logic and a “whisper” that produced suspicion and doubt.

If you let someone deceive you, it was your own fault.

The Sage believed in that principle. If the 8 billion members of the human race at the time had actually used their own heads and held onto enough power to apply the brakes, it never would have ended like that.

Humanity had been destroyed by their own delusions.

How could they possibly record that embarrassing fact in the history books?

Part 15

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